Arceneaux: This week all about football in Southwest Louisiana

Forget about those deals on big-screen TVs and smartphones that will be obsolete in two years, this Friday will be all about
football in Southwest Louisiana for the first time in a while.

Five teams will be playing quarterfinal games, the area’s largest contingent since 1999, when six teams — eventual 2A state
champion Iota, Jennings, LaGrange, Sam Houston, Washington-Marion and Welsh all played, with the Broncos knocking off the
Charging Indians.

There won’t be any intra-area games this week, but the quintet of teams are an interesting group.

Barbe and Jennings were in the
quarterfinals last year and have a history of long playoff runs. Barbe
has been ranked among
the top five teams in the state all year, deservedly so. The Bucs
stormed through a tough regular season schedule with a 9-1
record, picking up wins over ranked teams Acadiana, Carencro and
Evangel.

Jennings had more questions coming into
the season, but has once again benefitting from the coaching wizardry
of Rusty Phelps
and a star-making offensive system that has produced another pair
of star running backs in Jarquis Brown and Charlie Matte,
who has been on a tear since stepping into a starting role midway
through the season. The Bulldogs are back on the road this
week at No. 5 Livonia, but the Bulldogs have a large following and
are familiar with the Wildcats after playing a home-and-home
series in 2009-10.

Iowa and LaGrange picked up statement wins this week.

For the Yellow Jackets, the win over
North Vermilion put an exclamation point on their turnaround season.
After missing the
playoffs the past two seasons, Iowa’s pair of playoff wins will
give the program some positive momentum. Head coach Sean Richard
has proven he is capable of building a championship program with
his work in baseball, and this playoff run will put the football
program on the same track as the school’s softball and boys
basketball programs that have made strides in recent years.

For LaGrange, the wins the past two
weeks have ended a decade-long drought and completed the rebuilding that
has taken place
under Jules Sullen. The Gators have been playoff regulars during
Sullen’s tenure, but had not won or hosted a game until this
season. The Gators achieved both of those goals with a bi-district
win over Franklinton, then followed that with a win at
St. Martinville.

The wins should add confidence to an emerging program. Last year the Gators had a shot to be outright district champions but
lost a Week 10 showdown at Washington-Marion before going out in the first round of the playoffs.

This year the Gators beat W-M in a crucial Week 10 clash to earn a share of the district title and have continued building
momentum. With a host of talented youngsters already playing big roles, there is no reason to expect the Gators to regress
much in coming years.

The final quarterfinalist, Basile, has
been a steady winner under Tony Bertrand. This year the Bearcats have
unleashed a big-time
playmaker in Kendrick Ceaser, who ran for 221 yards in Friday’s
win over Plain Dealing, putting the Bearcats in the quarterfinals
for the first time since 1996, when the Bearcats reached the
semis.

Traditional power Kentwood stands in the way of a repeat of that feat, but with a stout defense and a player in Ceaser who
can produce touchdowns out of nothing, the Bearcats can’t be counted out, and will be the lone area team with a home-field
advantage this week.